65 minutes, is how long it took the 29 year old terror suspect after renting a truck from Home Depot in New Jersey, to crash it into innocent victims in New York City – killing 8 and injuring 13.
Once again, New York City is the city of choice for terror – a motor vehicle, the weapon of choice. This incident is the largest casualty event in New York City since the 911 World Trade Center tragedy.

Witness describe the incident as …It happened out of nowhere.”

The lone suspect entered the NYC Westside Highway Bike Path driving almost a mile as he struck pedestrians with no warning, or time for them to react. The suspect then crashed the truck into a school bus, before exiting his vehicle and displaying two pistols to bystanders – the pistols were in fact an air gun and pellet gun.

A hero officer of the NYPD observed the suspect, and shot him – preventing further injuries to the public.

Low tech, low skill vehicle attacks as used in Niece, and Berlin are becoming the new choice for terrorist incidents as more technical methods often fail. The speed of delivery in these incidents creates a “Flash-Bang” dynamic in which law enforcement has little time to predict and react to the incident.

Prevention of vehicle and outside terror events pose unique challenges to law enforcement. Outside public settings provide a soft target opportunity for victimization of unsuspecting victims. The use of vehicle barriers to protect areas containing pedestrian traffic or seating areas are expensive and often difficult to integrate into public and private settings.

What can you do? Enhancing your awareness in an outdoor setting is a good idea under any circumstance. Your awareness of where you are and how to safely and rapidly leave an area is very valuable. Removing yourself from a potential risk incident is the most important step in increasing your ability to avoid injury. Develop a personal safety plan at work and with your family – discuss and practice this simple plan to use in a crisis event. The use of a “Code Word” used to alert your family in a crisis would direct them to leave immediately to a place of safety.

© SAFESECURE 360